JP3404594B2 - Recording medium and music game apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium and sound.
The present invention relates to music game devices, in particular, general personal computers (IBM, Apple, etc.), home-use game devices (“PlayStation (trademark) ” of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. ) , “Nintendo 6” of Nintendo.
4 "," Dreamcast "by Sega Enterprises, etc.) or portable game devices (" Game Boy (trademark) "by Nintendo Co., Ltd.," Wonder Swan "by Bandai Co., Ltd.
(Trademark) ”or the like, or an arcade game machine (hereinafter collectively referred to as“ game machine ”), based on the notes collected by the player without requiring special musical knowledge. A music game where the tone of the music inside changes instantly
A computer with a program for controlling the computer
The present invention relates to a computer-readable recording medium and a music game device .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, various video games are developed and sold by companies in the game industry. The most common home-use game device among the game devices is connected to a controller pad as an input device 2 and a TV monitor 2 as shown in FIG.
4 are connected. When the player inserts the recording medium 1 such as a CD-ROM in which the game program is recorded into the game apparatus main body, the game program recorded on the recording medium is stored in the storage unit automatically or by the button operation of the controller pad. The game is started by being loaded on a certain RAM 3, and thereafter the game can be enjoyed by operating the buttons on the controller pad.

In the conventional music game, it is known that the animation pattern of the player character changes depending on whether the timing is right or wrong by pressing a button on the input device in accordance with the rhythm. Among these, there is one that switches to an unstable BGM when button input with bad timing continues. These are not only simply music but also visually enjoyable, and are particularly popular among game beginners. Also, when a plurality of objects falling from the upper part of the screen reach a predetermined position below, by pressing a button on the corresponding input device in good timing, a sound corresponding to the object is produced at that timing. There are also things. Since the sound is immediately produced when the button is pressed, it would be as if it were attached to the game device by using a controller such as a guitar of an instrument as an input device instead of the usual controller pad as shown in FIG. It feels good because you can enjoy it as if you were playing a guitar.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-319314 concerning the music game disclosed by the applicant of the present invention, automatic accompaniment is provided so that a pseudo musical instrument performance can be more realistically experienced using a general game machine. A music game with a singing voice using animation is disclosed. This invention synchronizes with the reproduction of digital audio data,
Playback using MIDI data in C major is started in advance, and the elapsed time from the start of the song is acquired.
Chord information for one song is displayed on the screen one bar at a time as the song progresses, and is displayed when the input information is received.
According chord information are, to change the scale portion of the pronunciation immediately preceding MIDI data in real time transpose, calculates the time difference between the predetermined time and the time that has received the input information is calculated from the elapsed time, the magnitude of the time difference, a plurality Is a control method for a music game with a singing voice by automatic accompaniment and animation, in which one of the animation patterns is selected and the character on the screen is made to jump. Also in this invention, when the button on the input device is pressed in accordance with the rhythm, the animation pattern of the player character changes depending on the timing of the operation, and the tone of the music based on the MIDI data changes.

[0005]

However, in the conventional music game, a single note or a chord is generated only when the input device is pressed, and the pressed condition is continuously reproduced until the next input is made. It is not a thing, and the whole musical tone flowing in the back does not change dynamically. In addition, even if the character displayed on the screen when the button on the input device is pressed in rhythm is simply the button on the input device, or even if it represents a musical note, It is only played at the pitch corresponding to the character at that time, and the chord is judged theoretically from the notes corresponding to those input buttons, and based on the result of the chord judgment, it is pronounced from the next time. It is not intended to be played while changing the tone of the music being played immediately. Then, in the conventional music game, if the button input with bad timing continues, unstable B
There are some that switch to GM, but internally, about 3 waveforms in which music patterns of different phrases are recorded are prepared in advance, and if the timing of pressing the button is good, the waveform of the pleasant phrase is selected, If the timing is wrong, the process of automatically switching is performed so that an unstable phrase waveform is selected. In other words, a series of music theory in which the reproduced waveform is simply switched according to the situation, the chord is judged from the note information input by the player, and the tone of the musical piece being reproduced is changed based on the obtained chord. It does not utilize processing based on.

The invention disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-319314 also presses a button on the input device in accordance with the rhythm, but this is music based on MIDI data played back at the timing of pressing. The musical tone of is changed. Inside this, a code pattern in which the code information for one song corresponding to the song to be played is recorded is prepared in advance, and the code information in the code pattern is sequentially displayed as the song progresses, and the button is pressed. The process of changing the tone is performed based on the chord information at different timings. The button here has only a function as a switch for acquiring the chord information in the chord pattern and changing the tone, and the chord information itself during playback, which kind of chord to change, is basically the player. The chord information is automatically changed depending on the timing when the button is pressed. In the case of the present invention, the chord pattern is changed if the song is not being played. The code information in can be freely changed by the player). That is, the character displayed on the screen in the present invention simply means a button on the input device and is not associated with a note. It is hard to say that it is based processing. Therefore, the present invention is a music game in which the tone of the music being played is instantly changed based on the notes collected by the player without requiring special musical knowledge.
Computer in which a program for controlling the computer is recorded
An object is to provide a readable recording medium and a music game device .

[0007]

The first aspect of the present invention is to provide a sound
A computer in which a program for controlling an easy game is recorded.
Computer-readable recording medium
The MI previously recorded on the recording medium and loaded in the storage unit.
Calculate the predetermined time from the tempo information included in the DI data
Digital audio recorded on the recording medium in advance
.BGM based on data and B based on the MIDI data
Start playing the GM synchronously and
The procedure for starting acquisition of elapsed time is recorded in advance on a recording medium.
Target chord showing an array of chord information loaded in the memory
The next predetermined time elapses at the above-mentioned predetermined time interval from the information sequence.
The first chord information after that is acquired and the acquired first chord information is acquired.
1 chord information and constituent tones for the 1 st chord information
Is displayed, and it corresponds to multiple note information including the constituent notes.
The procedure to display multiple
Corresponds to the character corresponding to the above constituent sounds of the lacta
Prompt the player to enter the input information
Corresponding to the input information received by the time when the predetermined time has elapsed
The input note information at the same time.
Procedure for storing in the storage unit as the communication status, the predetermined time
When elapses, the received data string showing the reception status is
Based on the second chord information,
The procedure of displaying chord information, after the elapse of the predetermined time,
The MIDI data immediately before the pronunciation based on the second chord information
Procedure to change and play the scale part of the keyboard in real time,
A computer recording a program for executing
It is a readable recording medium. The above is the configuration of the invention described in claim 1 .

According to the second aspect of the invention, further, the predetermined time is 1/2 bar or 1 of BGM based on MIDI data.
It is characterized by a time equivalent to an integral multiple of a measure. That is, it indicates that a time corresponding to an integral multiple of 1/2 bar or 1 bar is calculated as the predetermined time, and the chord determination is performed in the predetermined time unit from the note information input during the predetermined time.

According to the invention of claim 3 , the MID is further provided.
I data is BG by digital audio data
The accompaniment data for M is characterized by being data based on C major. In other words, MID over digital audio data mixed with singing voice, etc.
It indicates that the I data is reproduced, and that the MIDI data is accompaniment data created by the C major (C major) key. This MIDI data is
It is created on the premise that it is transposed in advance, and is created with the key of C major, which is easy to think as a reference in data processing and easy to create data.
It should be noted that any tone can be realized as a key tone of the MIDI data, provided that the data processing is performed consistently.

In the invention according to claim 4 , further, the target code information string is B by digital audio data.
It is an arrangement of chord information about GM, and is characterized in that one piece of chord information has chord information set at intervals corresponding to 1/2 bar or 1 bar. In advance, the code information about the reproduced digital audio data is 1 /
Check in units of 2 bars or 1 bar, create this as array data in advance , record it on a recording medium, and load it into the storage section.
That is to say . During playback of the song, the chord information at the next chord determination position (the position after the elapse of a predetermined time) before the current playback position on the chord information array is displayed. We will collect notes with the goal of chord information. The chord information here is referred to as first chord information.

According to the invention of claim 5 , the invention is further improved.
The second chord information is recorded in advance in the recording medium storage unit
The chord information loaded on the chord table is data on the chord table, and is data specified by obtaining the received data string as an offset value indicating a position on the chord table. 1/2 measure or 1
Within a time corresponding to an integral multiple of a bar, a reception data string indicating the note information collected and collected by the player is created. The received data string is composed of 12 bits, and each bit means 12 semitones from "do" to "shi". In other words, the received data string is one octave, which is 12 semitones.
It is regarded as bit note on / off flag information, and the chord information obtained by jumping by the offset value from the chord table is obtained using the numerical value of the entire flag information as an offset value.

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to express various musical composition changes, rather than a change in which a slightly different waveform prepared in advance is simply switched and reproduced. At the same time, contrary to the musical internal processing, the player simply collects the same notes as the displayed chord constituent notes, so it is the same as a mere symbol collection in the face-up. However, you can experience advanced musical expression with a simple operation.

[0013] Incidentally, the recording medium referred to in the first aspect of the present invention is a CD-ROM or the like. Also, the invention according to claim 6 as a second aspect of the present invention, the processing performed in each step in the invention of claim 1, realized by hardware such as components and custom chips instead of software of the case,
It is a dedicated video game device. In addition, video game equipment
The ROM or the like provided inside the storage device is referred to as the program in the first aspect of the present invention.
A mode of recording the program is also conceivable.

A music game using chord judgment performed in non-real time is also conceivable. This music game
The player collects notes in ½ or 1 bar units by means unrelated to the song (for example, assigning notes to various items and acquiring them) before playing the song. Create a target chord information string for one song.
At this time, the chord determination is internally performed in units of 1/2 or 1 bar, and the obtained chord information is sequentially recorded in the target chord information string. After the target chord information string is created, when the song is reproduced, the chord information is changed (transposed) based on the chord information while being read in real time.

Furthermore, a music game in which the tone of a song changes in real time even during playback of the song is also conceivable. This music game
During the reproduction of the music, the player collects the notes within a predetermined time, makes a chord judgment after the predetermined time has elapsed, and changes (transposes) the music tone based on this. Unlike the first aspect of the present invention, regardless of the presence or absence of a target chord information string and the presence or absence of reproduction of digital audio data flowing in the background, only control of music program data (MIDI data in the first aspect) is performed. This is the focus.

[0016]

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION To facilitate understanding of the invention,
First, the terms used in this embodiment will be described. Transposition: Transferring a melody or chord (chord) in one key to another key while keeping the relative pitch relationship. In the present embodiment, transposition is treated as the same as chord change. Digital audio data: CD-D as a music CD
A (Compact Disc Digital Au)
data), sampling frequency 44KH
z, quantization bit number 16 bits, stereo data. However, in the present embodiment, description will be made taking digital audio data as an example, but instead, waveform data recorded in other formats such as AIFF or music data recorded on a music tape may be used. MID for accompaniment
The format and mode are not limited as long as the data can be reproduced simultaneously with the I data. Further, the reproduction itself of the music by the digital audio data may be the MIDI data, and the reproduction of the accompaniment MIDI data and the simultaneous reproduction of the two MIDI data may be performed. However, it is desirable that the singing voice can be reproduced. C major scale: A scale made by tracing only the white keys from the keys on the keyboard. A "basic song in C major" is a song that starts with "do" and uses only white keys. Chord: A stack of two or more tones, or their reverberation is called a chord. Normally, the three-note configuration is used as the minimum chord unit, but in the present embodiment, it is basically processed as the four-note configuration. The sound that is the basis of the chord is called the root sound (root or chord root), and the other sounds are called the constituent sounds. In the present embodiment, the constituent sounds include root sounds. The type of chord that is divided by the constituent sounds is called (chord type). For example, in the case of C major, C means root and major means chord type. In addition, the constituent sounds of C major are Do, Mi, and Seo, and there is a pitch difference of 4 semitones between Do and Mi, whereas the constituent sounds of C Minor are Do, Mi b, and S, The difference is that there is a pitch difference of 3 semitones between M and b. Generally, it is bright for majors and dark for minors. There are various other code types, which are configured with a certain regularity from the root. MIDI: Musical Instrument
An abbreviation for nt Digital Interface, a standard interface for externally controlling electronic musical instruments. All the data such as pitch and intensity of sound are represented by 8-bit digital signals. A note generation command is called a note-on, and its data structure can be represented by "9n xx yy". Here, n is a MIDI channel which means a performance part, xx is a note number which means the number of a key on the keyboard, and yy is a velocity which represents the strength of a note. In addition, as a tone color number change command, there is a program change number "Cnzz" (zz is a tone color number). The first byte of each instruction is called the status byte, and the most significant bit is 1. The second byte (some instructions have the third byte) is called a data byte, and is represented by 7 bits with the most significant bit being 0. The MIDI data is a program for controlling when and how to call out a plurality of tone color data prepared in advance. By changing the note number (note number) of the note-on information, it is possible to change the key, that is, the note to be sounded (resulting in the pitch). In addition, MIDI data is generally recorded as SMF (Standard MIDI File), and this includes the tempo information of the music, the resolution described later, and the like. In general internal processing of music software for reproducing MIDI data, timbres of various musical instruments are prepared in advance as waveform data (these are collectively referred to as a sound source), and while sequentially reading MIDI data on the SMF, By processing the waveform data at what height, what length, at what volume, and at what timing it is pronounced, it is possible to reproduce continuous music. In the present embodiment, the data format of the accompaniment data has been described by taking MIDI as an example. However, if the music program data is in a format in which the scale information can be changed one command at a time for chord determination and chord change, there is a problem. the present invention may be realized without.

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a video game device will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 3, the recording medium 1 recording the embodiment of the present invention is inserted into a main body of a general home-use game machine 10 and the power is turned on.
After the program and data are automatically loaded in the storage unit 3, the start button 200 of the external input device 2 having a plurality of keys as shown in FIG. 2 is pressed to start the game. In addition to the input device, various buttons for operating the game character are arranged.

As shown in FIG. 1, the game apparatus 10 has an SCU 7 which mainly controls data transfer with each unit in the game apparatus.
(System Control Unit), a CPU that operates as a high-speed clock as a central processing unit
6. ROM storing basic control operations of the game device 10
5, a storage unit such as a RAM 3 that functions as a work area for the CPU 6 and temporarily stores the game program and various data recorded on the recording medium 1, and each unit is connected to a bus 28. The storage unit includes the control unit 4, which is the program body of the present invention. The SCU 7 also includes an I / O controller (not shown), an input receiving unit 20 that receives an input from the input device 2 such as a controller pad, a lever, and a keyboard, and transfers the input information to the CPU block 8, an I / O (not shown). CPU having a controller for reading a game program recorded in the recording medium 1
A medium reading unit 21 such as a CD-ROM drive for transferring to the block 8, an I / O controller (not shown) and a video R
An image processing unit 22 that includes an AM and draws an image in accordance with the information transferred from the CPU block 8, and an acoustic processing unit 23 that includes an I / O controller (not shown) and processes a sound such as a BGM or a click sound. It is connected by 28. The input receiving unit 20 is connected to the input device 2, the image processing unit 22 is connected to the TV monitor 24, and the acoustic processing unit 23 is connected to the speaker 25 built in the TV monitor 24. The present invention can also be used in a communication game. In this case, the main body of the game apparatus 10 and another game apparatus 27 are externally connected using a communication cable (not shown),
Inside the game apparatus 10, an I / O controller (not shown), a buffer memory, and a communication processing unit 26 for processing data transmission / reception with another game apparatus 27 are further provided. The communication game referred to here is, for example, one in which a plurality of game devices are directly connected using a relatively short communication cable, or one in which a plurality of game devices at different locations are connected via communication means such as the Internet. Alternatively, various modes are conceivable, such as connecting to a game server that centrally manages the game progress of each game device via a communication means such as the Internet.

4 and 5 which are flowcharts of the music game processing routine according to the embodiment of the present invention.
Follow along. Game start (step S101)
After that, the player decides the music to be played intentionally or automatically by the computer (step S102). After that, corresponding MIDI data for accompaniment, a target chord information sequence described later, character data and the like are loaded into the storage unit 3 (step S103). Here, generally, digital audio data is not loaded into the storage unit.

Next, to calculate the code determination time from the tempo information included in advance in the MIDI data loaded in the storage unit (step S104). In the present embodiment, a predetermined time corresponding to 1/2 measure is calculated as the "chord determination time". The tempo is the number of quarter notes played in one minute.
This means that one quarter note will be played. 4 here
In the case of / 4 beat, four quarter notes are played in one measure, but the playing time of one measure at this time is 60/120 ×
4 = 2 seconds. Therefore, the performance time (chord determination time) of 1/2 bar in this example is 1 second. It should be noted that if the tempo of the music changes, the predetermined time will naturally change.
In the present embodiment, is it a configuration in which a clock is provided internally, the elapsed time from the start of the song is acquired, and the chord determination described below is performed every time the time corresponding to 1/2 bar elapses? Alternatively, a counter corresponding to a clock is internally included in the storage unit, and the counter is incremented (or decremented) from the start of the song, and chord determination is performed when the counter is incremented (or decremented) by a number corresponding to 1/2 measure. It is a composition. However, since the MIDI data includes data (called delta time) indicating the elapsed time until the next command such as note-on is processed, by decrementing while reading these data, 1 / It is conceivable that the chord can be judged when decrementing by a number corresponding to two measures.
It can be said that this case is also included in the same scope of the present invention. Here, the number corresponding to 1/2 measure is the resolution of the music included in the MIDI data × 2. The resolution is
This corresponds to the number of time divisions between two quarter notes.

Then, the reproduction of the digital audio data and MIDI data corresponding to the selected song is started in synchronization with each other (step S105). At the same time, the acquisition of the elapsed time from the start of reproduction is started (step S10).
6). The digital audio data is so-called music CD data in which a singing voice or the like is mixed, and is reproduced simultaneously while sequentially reading the data. Also, the MIDI data is data for accompaniment of BGM by digital audio data, and is data created based on C major (C major). Here, the MIDI data is created on the premise that it is transposed in advance, and is created with a C major key that is easy to think as a reference in data processing and easy to create data. It should be noted that any tone can be realized as a key tone of the MIDI data, provided that the data processing is performed consistently. The resulting output is overlaid on the digital audio data, the BGM reproduction processing by MIDI data is performed by the acoustic processing unit, and is sounded by the speaker. Also, in order to confirm the reproduction position in the entire song during music reproduction, acquisition of the elapsed time from the start of reproduction is started.

Then, the first chord information after the passage of the next chord determination time is obtained at the chord determination time interval from the target chord information sequence corresponding to the music piece to be reproduced loaded in the storage unit. First, when the song starts, the next target chord information is acquired, and the chord information and constituent sounds are displayed (step S107). At the same time, a plurality of characters corresponding to a plurality of note information including those constituent sounds are displayed (step S108). Then, the code determination processing routine is entered (step S109). Here, the target code information string is the BG based on the digital audio data to be reproduced.
An array of code information about M, which is 1 bar or 1
This is one piece of music in which chord information is set at intervals corresponding to / 2 bars. Then, a band 1003 on the screen of FIG. 9 is a part of the target chord information string and is data corresponding to the vicinity of the reproduction position of the current song. The target chord information string processed in units of 4 bars or 8 bars also progresses as the music progresses, and the target chord information string displayed on the screen also changes. The target chord information sequence is divided by the bar line 1004 in units of one bar. Then, during the reproduction of the music, the code information of the next chord judgment position (the position after the chord judgment time elapses) before the current music reproduction position (the position of the cursor 1005) on the target chord information sequence is displayed. “C” 1006 and its constituent sounds “Do, Mi, S” are displayed at 1007. The cursor 1005 moves from right to left as the music progresses, and returns to the original position in units of 4 bars or 8 bars to be displayed. Incidentally, FIG.
In the example of the screen of, the first chord information corresponds to “C” displayed in 1007. 1 for each measure in the target code information string
002, F code in the first half 1/2 bar, second half 1
In some bars, two chords of G7 code are set in the / 2 bar. On the other hand, normally, one chord is set for one bar, and in this case, the chord of the latter half 1/2 bar is processed as it is in the first half of the bar. The plurality of characters in step S108 corresponds to the character of the note displayed at the positions 1010 to 1017 in FIG. 9, 1010 corresponds to the button 201 on the input device in FIG. 2, 1011 corresponds to 202, ... … 101
7 is assigned corresponding to 208. That is, when the button 201 is pressed, the character of the note at the position 1010 is selected. Note that the drawing processing of characters and the like is performed in the image processing unit and displayed on the TV monitor. For the characters other than the constituent sounds, notes obtained by using random numbers may be set, but notes obtained in consideration of tension may be included. For example, if the target chord is "C", "re" may be intentionally set as the 9th (nine) tension in addition to the constituent sounds "do", "mi", and "so". Here, the tension is an additional sound that is used at the same time as a chord to give a feeling of tension. Nine means a note corresponding to the 9th position in the higher pitch of the note, with the chord root set to 1 except for # and b.

[0024] Of all the characters, prompting the input information corresponding to the key Yarakuta corresponding to the target structure sound so as to input to the player. Then, the elapsed time is acquired at regular intervals (step S201), and the scale part of the MIDI data is changed based on the current chord information temporarily stored in the storage section (step S202). The initial value of the current chord information is the first chord information set in the C major or target chord information string. The processing in step S202 will be described later. When the input information is received by the time when the chord determination time has elapsed (step S203), the note information corresponding to the input information is displayed (step S204) and stored as the reception status (step S205). In the case of FIG. 9, since the target code is “C” from 1007, the player presses a button on the input device corresponding to “do” 1010, “mi” 1011, “so” 1015 on the screen. As described above, the characters of the notes are displayed in reverse video or blinked in synchronization with the rhythm to prompt the player for input. The flashing speed in sync with the rhythm changes depending on the tempo of the song,
It is processed so as to blink at regular intervals based on the acquired elapsed time. Reference numeral 1008 indicates the reception status of the input up to the present, and indicates that there is an input corresponding to “do” and “mi”. Then, the reception status is stored in a reception data string which is a storage area of the storage unit configured by 12 bits as shown in FIG. The receive data sequence, de, de #, ... death, respectively it bits 0 and 1, correspond to a ... 12, for example, bit 0 when receiving the information corresponding to the "do" becomes 1, When the information corresponding to "mi" is received, bit 4 becomes 1. The received data string is cleared to 0 as soon as the code judgment is completed. All notes are 12 from Do to Si
Since it can be expressed in different types, 40 notes are available as a combination of notes.
There can be 96 ways. Even if an octave or an inversion type is considered, if the octave information or the lowest note is reserved, it is basically not related to the note saving in the 12-bit received data string. All codes can be expressed by the data string. Here, the inversion type is a method of assembling chords when the chord root is the lowest note, whereas the chord root is not the lowest note. In the present embodiment, the received data string is handled in bits, but it goes without saying that it is within the same scope of the present invention to handle in bytes such that one note corresponds to one note.

Next, it is checked whether or not the code determination time has elapsed (step S206), and if it has not yet elapsed, step S2.
It returns until the elapsed time of 01 is acquired. If the chord judgment time has elapsed, it is checked whether or not the song ends (step S20).
7). If it is the end of the song, the process returns to step S109 to stop the song (step S110), then check whether the game is over (step S111). If the game is over, end it (step S112). If not, end the game. , And the process is repeated by returning to the selection of the song in step S102. If the song is not the end in step S207,
The second chord information is acquired and displayed based on the received data string indicating the reception status at that time, and the second chord information is temporarily stored in the storage unit as the current chord information (step S20).
8). In the present embodiment, the acquisition of the second chord information here is referred to as “chord determination”, and the storage of the second chord information and the processing in step S202 based on the chord information are collectively referred to as “chord determination”. It is treated as "change".
Then, in step S208, the code information at the offset position on the code table shown in a) of FIG. 7 is acquired by using the numerical value shown in the entire received data string as an offset value, and the code route and the code type are specified. One piece of code information on the code table has two elements, a code root and a code type. The second chord information here is the chord information obtained from the received data string. The order of the code information in a) of FIG.
It is arranged and set corresponding to the binary number pattern of the received data string of FIG. 7B. Since the received data string is 12 bits, it can take values from 0 to 4095. And 40
There will be 96 sets of code information on the code table. For example, the received data string is 0b0000000000
If it is 0 (the leading symbol 0b indicates that the following numerical values are in binary notation), nothing has been entered yet, so there is no chord root and chord type, and no chord change will occur. . In this case, the code is played back up to that point, or if it is the beginning of the song, it is played back with the first chord information set in the C major or target chord information sequence. Also 0b000000
In 000001, only C is input, so it is specified as C major. Similarly, 0b000000001001
Is a C minor, 0b10 because do and mi are entered.
In 0010010001, C major 7, 0b1111
In 11111111, none is specified. The chord root and chord type are set so that there is no contradiction in music theory with the bit pattern of the corresponding received data string, and the entire chord table of FIG. 7 a) is stored in advance in the storage unit. It Then, after the chord determination time has elapsed, in the next process in step S202, the scale portion of the MIDI data immediately before pronunciation is changed (transposed) in real time based on the second chord information that is the current chord information. To play.

Then, the next target chord information is acquired from the target chord information string, and the chord information and constituent sounds are displayed (step S209). At the same time, a plurality of characters corresponding to a plurality of note information including the constituent sounds are displayed (step S210). The above process is step S
The same as 107 and step S108. After that, the process returns to the acquisition of the elapsed time in step 201.

Incidentally, the internal processing for reproducing the MIDI data, as described above, prepares the waveform data in advance,
While sequentially reading the MIDI data, how to generate the waveform data is controlled for each command and sequentially processed so that continuous music is reproduced. Here, in the present embodiment, in step S202, the note number (note part) of the note-on information in the MIDI data is acquired immediately before reproduction, and the current chord information (second chord) temporarily stored in the storage unit is acquired. Information), the scale is changed, the corresponding waveform data is sounded in the changed scale, and this is performed each time the MIDI data is processed, so that it is reproduced as an accompaniment tune. As a result, the overall tone is dynamically changed based on the obtained chord information, and the chord is played until the chord information is changed next time. Hereinafter, step S20
The process in 2 will be described in more detail.

Regarding the code change table of FIG.
As shown on the right side of the figure, with respect to the chord type, major, minor ... minor 6 are 0, 1, ... 11 beforehand.
It is defined to correspond to. For example, if the acquired chord type is "major", refer to the data string of number 0 (top) on the chord change table, and if "minor 7", read the data of number 4 (fifth from the top). Will be referenced. The above definition of code type is
That is, it means the vertical offset value of the code change table. Further, the code root is defined such that C is 0, C # is 1, ... B is 11. Then, in order to mean the lateral offset value of the code change table in FIG. 8, do is defined as 0, do # is 1 ...

An actual example of the transposing process has already been disclosed by the applicant of the present application in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-319314. Once again, if the current chord information is A minor, the chord root is set to A (= 9) and the chord type is set to minor (= 1). Assuming that the scale information of the MIDI data to be produced is 64, first, the remainder is divided by 12 and the remainder is rounded to a value from Do to Si. Since the do is defined as 0, the do # is defined as 1, and the sequence is defined as 11, the result is 4 and the result is Mi, and a value is obtained from the chord change table by using this value and chord type 1. The fourth (mi) data on the right and the first (minor) data on the bottom, that is, -1, are selected by counting with the value of the upper left corner of the code change table as a reference. Then, -1 and 64 of the original scale information are added to obtain 63, which means that Mi is lowered by a semitone to Mi b.
Correspondence to the chord type is achieved by changing the constituent sound of the major chord to the constituent sound of the target chord type using the chord change table as described above. Next, the correspondence to the chord root is A (= 9) from the above, so if you add 9 to 63 obtained above, it will eventually be converted to 72 and "do" will be played (the remainder divided by 12 Is 0). As described above, the MIDI data immediately before the pronunciation is changed in the scale part and is reproduced with the changed MIDI data.
The code change table is stored in the storage unit in advance.

The above is the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention.
It should be noted that the recording medium referred to in the present invention is a recording medium in which the video game program configured in the above-described embodiment of the present invention is recorded, and in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG.
M is illustrated. However, hard disk, R
It goes without saying that even OM cartridges, large-capacity FDs, MOs, DVDs, etc. are included in the recording medium of the present invention . Then, for example, the player downloads the game using the present invention to a hard disk connected to his / her personal computer via the Internet or the like, and is used alone or in a remote place if the game is a network-compatible communication game. Embodiments in which the player can enjoy the game with other players are also conceivable, but the hard disk here is also included in the recording medium of the present invention. And these are computer readable,
The storage unit 3 is all media in which programs and data that can be loaded are recorded.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 4 here is a game program and data read from the recording medium 1, and is stored in a storage area such as a RAM.
The execution of the game is the execution of these programs.
The storage area referred to here is the RAM that is the storage unit in FIG.
There is no substantial difference in the way of thinking whether it is a part of 3 or prepared separately. Further, an embodiment in which the storage area in which the programs and data are stored is replaced with a ROM as it is to store the game programs and data, and the ROM is connected to the CPU via a bus, or the ROM is integrally formed with the CPU An embodiment in which is a CPU is conceivable. In this case, the recording medium 1 in FIG. 1 may not be necessary because it can be a dedicated game device. Further, an embodiment is conceivable in which the processing performed in each step in the control unit 4 is configured as separate hardware such as a component or a custom chip instead of software. In this case, the video game device according to the sixth aspect can be a dedicated game device as well, and thus the recording medium 1 in FIG. 1 may not be necessary.

As shown in FIG. 9, the character 1001 is displayed so that the character 1001 is animated as the music progresses, and if the player can collect all the target notes by the chord judgment time, perform a good dance. You may do it. Prepare a plurality of sets of motion data for animation obtained by using motion capture, etc., and switch them according to the player's score. The animation of the character does not directly calculate the displacement of the pixel in real time, but uses the data sequence in which the motions of the real performer or dancer are sampled in advance, so that the human motion can be expressed realistically. The data structure of general three-dimensional motion data has a scale value representing the size of each character object, XYZ.
Is composed of a rotation angle with respect to each axis and coordinate values for each XYZ component indicating a moving distance from the origin, and a motion can be expressed by having this for each motion in the number of frames of the motion. The frame referred to here is a so-called "frame", which is a time unit of image display processing.

If the tempo of the music is fast, it may be difficult to input within one half bar. Therefore, the chord judgment time should be a sufficient time of about two bars or four bars with good separation, and the chord judgment should be performed. It can be said that even a design in which a correct code change is automatically performed except for the timing to be carried out belongs to the same range of the present invention. It should be noted that the code change that is automatically performed is performed by using the target code information at that time as it is, without making a code determination from the received data string. The key to be used as the keynote of the accompaniment MIDI data prepared in advance is provided that the values on the chord change table shown in FIG. 8 and the values added when the chord root correspond are relatively consistent with each other. Although any number of keys can be used, in general, C major (C major) is the most easy to think and easy to create when creating MIDI data, so this is the keynote in this embodiment.

Further, in the present embodiment, when the player obtains a note, the character of the note corresponding to the button on the input device is displayed on the screen, and the corresponding button is pressed to be assigned to that button. Although a simple method of selecting notes has been described, for example, even if it is arranged in a gun shooting game style in which enemy characters to which notes are assigned are attacked and then they are shot down to obtain notes, the same range of the present invention It goes without saying that it belongs to. In this case, a process in which the player moves the cursor displayed on the input device to the enemy character and makes a hit determination by pressing a button, and if hit, a note corresponding to the enemy character may be acquired.

In addition, the present invention assigns notes to various items and obtains them by an action game, a role-playing game, a button on an input device corresponding to a blinking character such as a mole tap. It can also be applied to a game in which you can get the notes assigned to that button by hitting, or a puzzle game in which cards that look like notes are arranged. In these cases, even if the musical notes are collected and the arrangement of the chord information for one song is aligned and then the song is started to be reproduced based on the chord information, the tone of the musical piece being reproduced is immediately obtained after the chord information is acquired. Even if it is changed based on the code information, it is an example of the embodiment utilizing the present invention.

Also, by limiting the tone color to be played back to a particular tone color such as a guitar or piano during BGM playback with MIDI data as an accompaniment, it is possible to create a game in which the feeling of playing a corresponding musical instrument can be felt a little. In this case, the embodiment is more musical than the example of the present embodiment, but while enjoying the game, it is possible to learn a little about what the chord constituent sounds are and what kind of sound the instrument produces in the chords. You can also Once a chord is changed to change the tune, the tune does not change until the chord is changed with a different chord, so even beginners of music can visually confirm the chord image. Further, in this case, chord determination and chord change may be performed by connecting a dedicated input device such as a guitar to the game device body and inputting information corresponding to notes.

Then, in correspondence with the communication game and the simultaneous play by a plurality of people, it is possible to prevent the other player from acquiring the musical notes of the player, or to directly change the chord by the other player, or to make a normal operation. If a code change is made, points are added, and if the game is configured to compete with other players or a computer for points,
Further, the application range of the present invention is expanded. Here, in the case of a communication game, information received via a communication cable (not shown),
Also, in the case of simultaneous play by a plurality of people, the game is affected by the information received by another input device connected to the main body of the game device. And, these are the note information on the screen is destroyed by the information from other players, the note information assigned to the note characters is changed to different note information, or the chord information obtained from the input result by the player is not used. Instead, it can be realized by performing an internal process such as changing the code according to the code information received from another player.

[0038]

As described above, if the player does not collect the notes to be collected within a predetermined time, the music is played differently than before, and the music is not played as expected because the music is not distorted. , You can enjoy not only the music you listen to, but also the game while having an interesting and unique thrill. Also, the notes to be collected and the target chords are displayed on the screen, and if you can collect the notes correctly, the song will be played immediately with the correct chords, so even a player who has no musical knowledge can get a little musical knowledge. Can be worn. Also,
The operation of collecting notes is the same as when playing a so-called musical instrument.
It is not something that cannot be done without knowledge of music, and since it can be collected simply as a symbol, even a normal game user who is not interested in music or musical instruments can enjoy the music game according to the present invention without hesitation. Note that the musical note referred to here may have any shape in appearance, and if the musical note information is internally assigned, the present invention can be used as it is even for a character that is completely unrelated to the musical note.
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to enjoy a change in music that immediately reacts with a feeling different from that of normal music without requiring special music knowledge.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a game device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the input device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a connection mode of the home game apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a music game processing routine executed by the control unit of the game device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a schematic flowchart of a chord determination processing subroutine of step S109 of the music game processing routine shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a received data string according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 7B is a diagram showing possible values of a received data string according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7A is an explanatory diagram showing a code table corresponding to them.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a code change table according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen display according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. ． ． recoding media 2. ． ． Input device (input section) 3. ． ． RAM (storage unit) 4. ． ． Control unit 5. ． ． ROM 6. ． ． CPU 7. ． ． SCU 8. ． ． CPU block 10. ． ． Game device 20. ． ． Input receiver 21. ． ． Medium reading unit 22. ． ． Image processing unit 23. ． ． Sound processing unit 24. ． ． TV monitor 25. ． ． Speaker 26. ． ． Communication processing unit 27. ． ． Other game devices 28. ． ． bus

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Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A program for controlling a music game.
A computer-readable recording medium in which is recorded,
MIDI recorded in a recording medium in advance in a computer and loaded in a storage unit
After calculating the predetermined time tempo information included in the data, digital audio recorded in advance in a recording medium
B G by B GM and the MIDI data by the data
Procedure for starting playback of M synchronously and starting acquisition of elapsed time from playback start , chord information pre-recorded on recording medium and loaded in storage unit
From the target chord information sequence showing the arrangement of the first chord information after the lapse of the next predetermined time at the predetermined time interval, and regarding the acquired first chord information and the first chord information. displays configuration tones, further displays a plurality of characters corresponding to a plurality of musical note information including the component notes
Procedure, calibration corresponding to the constituent notes of all of the character
In addition to prompting the player to input the input information corresponding to the character, the note information corresponding to the input information received by the elapse of the predetermined time is displayed, and at the same time, the input information is stored as a reception status in the storage unit. hand rather have been stored in the
In order , when the predetermined time has elapsed, a procedure of acquiring second chord information based on a received data string indicating the reception status and displaying the second chord information, after the predetermined time has elapsed, the A computer having recorded therein a program for executing a procedure of changing the scale portion of the MIDI data immediately before pronunciation in real time based on the second chord information and reproducing the scale portion.
A readable recording medium. Wherein said predetermined time, a recording medium according to claim 1, wherein a time corresponding to an integral multiple of 1/2 bar or one measure of B GM by MIDI data, it is characterized. 3. The MIDI data is the digital data.
A accompaniment data for B GM by the audio data, a trend data in C major, recording medium according to any one of claims 1 or claim 2, characterized in that. Wherein said target code information sequence is a sequence of chord information B GM by the digital audio data, said chord information is set at an interval which corresponds to 1/2 bars or one measure recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is one song, and wherein the. 5. The second chord information is recorded on a recording medium in advance.
Data on the chord table about the chord information recorded and loaded in the storage section, which is data specified by obtaining the received data string as an offset value indicating a position on the chord table. recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 4,. 6.Connection with input device, display device and audio device
Equipped with an image processing unit, a sound processing unit, and an input receiving unit.
Also, in the music game device that controls the music game, Pre-recorded in ROM and loaded in storage MIDI device
Included in the dataTeAfter calculating the predetermined time from the report information,
Digital audio data recorded in ROM in advance
And BGM according to the MIDI data.
RawStart synchronouslyOutput to a sound device and start playback.
BeginningGet elapsed time to start getting elapsed time frommeans
When,Of chord information recorded in ROM in advance and loaded in the storage unit
Indicates an array From the target code information string, the predetermined time interval
When the first chord information is acquired after
The acquired first chord information and the first chord information.
The composition sound about the reportOn displayDisplay and further the above configuration
Multiple characters corresponding to multiple note information including sounds
On displayTarget displaymeansWhen, Corresponds to the constituent sounds of all the charactersCat
Corresponding to LactaInput information to the playerFrom input deviceEntering
Prompt to force and until the specified time has elapsed
Note information corresponding to the input information received byOn display
It will be displayed, and at the same time, the input information will be displayed as the reception status.Record
In the memoryMemorized notesmeansWhen, When the predetermined time has elapsed, the reception status indicating the reception status is received.
If the second chord information is specified based on the
To the second chord informationOn displayCode size to display
FixedmeansWhen, After the lapse of the predetermined time, based on the second chord information
Real-time the scale part of the MIDI data just before pronunciation
And then playOutput to audio deviceCode change
meansWhen, A music game device comprising: